The invention relates to a method for testing a workpiece, in particular a printed circuit board, by means of a testing pin arranged on a holder, which testing pin approaches a predetermined position on or in the workpiece, and a device for this purpose. The invention also relates in general to a method for moving an object, in particular an electrical or electronic object or a part thereof, in particular for testing, examining, and/or processing a workpiece, in particular an electronic workpiece, by means of an item of equipment.
Objects must be moved in many cases in daily life. Reference is made hereafter to electronic testing devices solely as an example. However, the present invention is not to be restricted thereto. The description is only to be considered to be an example. The present invention also relates to movements, which take place in miniature ranges, in a nonrestrictive manner. It is particularly well suited to this purpose.
Such testing devices are known and are on the market in manifold forms and embodiments. The present invention relates to any testing device, using which a workpiece is to be scanned by a plurality of testing pins, which are arranged in a specific relationship to one another, but this arrangement must possibly be changed. Above all, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to testing devices for studying electronic printed circuit boards for faults and function before installation in electronic devices.
In such devices, contact pins or needles are pressed against predetermined points (contact positions) of the printed circuit board, and then testing signals are applied thereto in accordance with a predetermined control by a testing computer, to ascertain the functional capability of the equipped printed circuit board. To produce a perfect electrical contact between the contact needles and contact points on a printed circuit board, which taps a large number of contact positions, several thousand contact needles are often necessary or possible.
Such testing devices are described, for example, in DE 11 2006 003 034 T5 or also DE 196 46 252 A1 or DE 44 16 151 B. However, all of these devices presume that the printed circuit boards to be tested are exactly associated with the testing pins. Since a plurality of such tests must also take place within one time unit, substantial problems occur during the positioning of the printed circuit board in relation to the testing pins.
A frequently occurring problem in the case of such a testing device, in particular for printed circuit boards, is that the workpiece to be tested must subsequently be altered. This means that the testing adapter having the testing pins must also subsequently be redesigned, which takes a long time since, for example, angle of approach and arrangement of the testing pins in relation to one another must be recalculated and the corresponding holders, for example, perforated plates, must also be redesigned.
The object of the present invention is to develop a method and a device of the above-mentioned type, using which an alteration of the arrangement of the testing pins in relation to one another is made easier and in particular accelerated. The object of the present invention is also to improve the movement of an object, above all in the field of electronics, but also in micro-mechanics.